Vancouver Hockey Analytics Conference 2017

What

The Vancouver Hockey Analytics Conference (#VanHAC) is the largest hockey analytics gathering on the West Coast. The conference gives the hockey analytics community a means to show new ways to think about the sport we all love. VanHAC is organized by the community for the community. Our main goal is to strengthen the hockey analytics community by providing more opportunities to share knowledge and ideas, encouraging support and education for speaking at conferences, and increasing the visibility of developers, organizations, and companies within the community.

We try to keep registration costs as low as possible to make VanHAC accessible to the widest group possible.

Note all attendees are required to uphold community standards to keep VanHAC a place where everyone is welcome. To quote the Python Community:

VanHAC is dedicated to providing a harassment-free conference experience for everyone, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, or religion. We do not tolerate harassment of conference participants in any form.

All communication should be appropriate for a professional audience including people of many different backgrounds. Sexual language and imagery is not appropriate for any conference venue, including talks.

Be kind to others. Do not insult or put down other attendees. Behave professionally. Remember that harassment and sexist, racist, or exclusionary jokes are not appropriate for VanHAC.

Attendees violating these rules may be asked to leave the conference without a refund at the sole discretion of the conference organizers.

Meghan Chayka, a co-founder of Stathletes, will be the Keynote Speaker for the event. Stathletes, founded in 2010, is an independent source for hockey analytics, with a wealth of experience at both the professional and amateur hockey ranks as a leading voice in the industry. If the Chayka name seems familiar, that’s because John Chayka, her brother, is the Arizona Coyotes General Manager.

Sportsnet’s Dimitri Filipovic and Dan Murphy will grace the event later. You’ll likely remember Filipovic from his time at Canucks Army, where he was a lead contributor to the site, before taking the Managing Editorship in time for the 2013-14 season. It wasn’t until an NHL team came calling that Filipovic left the site, for a year-long consultancy in the big leagues.

In my experience, Murphy’s as approachable and likeable a member of the local beat as I’ve encountered. He covers the Canucks for Sportsnet Pacific, conducting in-game interviews and intermission panels. Murphy’s always had an open mind for progressive thinking in hockey and has played a leading role in bringing analytics to the forefront of Canucks broadcasts.

The two share a column on Sportsnet, titled “Naked Eye vs. Nerdy Guy” where they break down a Canucks related topic with qualitative and quantitative analysis forming the backbone of their opinions. They’ll do a similar segment at VanHac.

The call for speaking proposals is now over. Shortly we will announce our full schedule.

Registration

TICKETS ARE NOW SOLD OUT!!!

Follow us on @HockeyGraphs as we may trickle out a few more tickets closer to the event.

The tickets sales will help us pay for venue and AV related costs. It will give you Breakfast, Snacks, Lunch and Beverages throughout the day on top of entrance to the conference. Should any profit remain, all proceeds will be donated to a local Vancouver charity.

Ticket sales are limited so get your ASAP!

Media and hockey industry members can contact us at vanhac17@gmail.com.

Venue

This years conference will be hosted at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC. Instructions will be made clear shortly on how to access the event room.

To Enter the Conference:

From the Skytrain, please exit at the Stadium stop to Expo Blvd. Please head North onto Expo Blvd toward Costco. Please walk to Griffiths Way, this will be the first stop light past Costco and you will turn left. Please go past the Canucks parkade entrance and enter Rogers Arena via Gate 9. Gate 9 is located just past the parkade entrance on your left. Once inside, please let base building security know you are here for the Conference. You will then take the South Elevators to Level 4 to check in at the entrance of the Party Room for the Sportsbar.

Traveling

Vancouver has an international airport about 45 minutes to downtown. If you are coming from the US make sure you have a valid passport. There are plenty of hotel and AirBNB options downtown. Public transit is excellent regardless of where you are staying but note Vancouver does not have any RideShare companies (ex: Uber). Most places downtown will be easy to walk from and parking is limited and/or expensive.

Schedule

Check back closer to the event with event specifics.

Friday Night Social

Friday evening will be an informal meetup at Central City (871 Beatty St, Vancouver). The reservation starts at 7:00 pm.

Saturday Night Social

Post-Conference there will be a social event at the Pint (455 Abbott St, Vancouver) hosted by CanucksArmy and the Nations Network. For VanHAC attendees there is no line and no cover.

If you wish to stay at Rogers Arena, the SportsBar has a small reservation. Please let them know you wish to attend by emailing reservations@thesportsbar.ca and indicate you are attending the conference.

If you wish to buy tickets to the game see this poster!

Talk Schedule and Slides

The main event will run from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm on Saturday, March 11th, 2017. There will be informal social events in the evening of Friday and Saturday. There will also be an option to buy Canucks tickets vs the Pittsburgh Penguins that evening.